Lebanese-American businessman and Donald Trump surrogate Massad Boulos revealed in a recent interview days before the election that he will serve as the US point man for Lebanon in the incoming administration, tasked with negotiating with Beirut to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
“I will be responsible for negotiating with the Lebanese side in order to reach an agreement, and Trump will appoint someone familiar with the Israeli file to negotiate with the Israelis,” Boulos told the Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed in what appears to be one of the first revelations regarding now President-elect Trump’s personnel.
Boulos joined the Trump inner circle after his son Michael married the former president’s daughter Tiffany in 2022. He helped Trump make significant inroads in the Arab American in yesterday’s election.
He will apparently assume half of the role currently filled by US President Joe Biden’s special adviser Amos Hochstein, who has been tasked with negotiating with both Israel and Lebanon. He successfully brokered a maritime boundary deal between the sides in 2022, but has not yet succeeded in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah since the terror group began conducting cross-border attacks on October 8, 2023.
Boulos told Al Jadeed in another interview that Trump will fulfill his recent promise to “end the destruction in Lebanon” through a “comprehensive regional peace agreement.”
“Trump is committed to ending the war before he enters the White House,” he added, without elaborating.
An Israeli official and a former Trump official told The Times of Israel last month that the former president told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they met in July that he wants the Gaza war wrapped up by the time he enters office.
“People see that Biden and Harris failed to end the wars and failed to even return the American hostages from Gaza… Lebanese Americans are migrating to Republican Party and to Trump because they feel that Trump is their only hope to end this war, and end all the wars… so we can start talking about rebuilding Lebanon and Gaza,” Boulos said.